Sanju Samson has led Rajasthan Royals brilliantly in IPL 2023. RR sit atop the IPL 2023 points table thanks to their near-perfect game in this season. Samson may not find his place in the top 15 batters in the season so far but he has definitely been a match-winner with some key contributions as keeper and captain. However, former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag rates KL Rahul better than Samson, at least as a batter.
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Sehwag feels Rahul has scored runs in all formats of the game at international level as well as in IPL which makes him better than an inconsistent. "If you talk about establishing yourself in the Indian team, I believe KL Rahul is far better than Sanju Samson. He has played Test matches and scored hundreds in many countries. He has performed well in ODIs, both as an opener and in the middle order, and has also scored runs in T20 cricket," Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
Samson's India career at a glance
Samson made his international debut at the age of 20 in a T20I vs Zimbabwe in 2015. The 18-year-old's ODI debut came vs Sri Lanka in 2021. The truth is that Samson has failed to replicate the domestic and IPL performances at international level. He has played 11 ODIs and 17 T20Is for India, scoring 330 and 301 runs so far. His strike rate in T20Is is 133.78 which of course needs improvement, looking at the world standards. In IPL, he has played in 144 games, smashing 3683 runs with an average of 29.23 and strike rate of 136.76.
Since becoming RR captain, Samson has under played himself as batter too. He comes at No 4 to bat, giving the opening spot to Yashasvi Jaiswal. But beyond the numbers, there is also one more truth which is Samson has not got as much backing from the Indian management as the likes of KL Rahul have got.
Rahul's international numbers
Rahul, who made his international debut in 2014 in a Test, has always got the backing of Virat Kohlis and Rohit Sharmas. He has played consistently in all forms of cricket for India, despite his failures with the bat. Rahul has played in 47 Tests, 54 ODIs and 72 T20Is, scoring 2642, 1986 and 2265 runs respectively across formats.
